Prinny's Taylor is the title of a biography of Louis Bazalgette, who was tailor to the Prince of Wales, later George IV, for 32 years. It was written by his great-great-great-great grandson, Charles Bazalgette, and is now available as a trade paperback from Amazon and other distributors.

My great-grandfather, Charles Norman Bazalgette, Q.C., had, it appears, a Chinese terrier and it tended to get loose. The following rather amusing story was published in the Wandsworth And Battersea District Times, on October 30, 1886. Note the typical barrister’s trick that Norman tried in order to throw a spanner (or should that be a spaniel?) in the works.

Mr. Norman Bazalgette, barrister, residing at Sunnyside, Wimbledon, was summoned for allowing a dog to be at large not under control. The defendant said he wished to hear the evidence of the police. Police-constable 235 V deposed that on the 30th ult. he saw a Chinese terrier in the Ridgeway-road. He was unable to seize the dog, but he followed it to the defendant’s house. He saw the defendant, who said it was a troublesome dog to keep in. The dog which was about 100 yards from the house was not muzzled nor led. In answer to questions the constable said he was especially employed to look after dogs. He was sure it was the defendant’s dog. There were other Chinese terriers in the same road. The defendant said he had three dogs in the court, and he wished the constable to pick out the one belonging to him (the defendant). At the request of the magistrate the three dogs were brought into the court. Mr. Bazalgette had in the meantime withdrawn to prevent his own dog recognising him. All the dogs were muzzled and held together. The constable picked out the centre dog, and the other two were then removed from the court. Mr. Bazalgette returned and said the constable had picked out the right dog. He then stated that the three dogs were so like one another that he thought it might be a case of suspicion. When the order was made it was dead letter in Wimbledon, as the police did not enforce it for six weeks. Suddenly an order came to enforce it, and the police very fairly gave a caution. He procured a muzzle, and gave instructions to his servants to use it. He referred to the third section of the Act which stated that any person in contravention of the order was liable. It could not be said that he had contravened the order when he had done everything to carry it out. Mr. Bennett said the dog was out, and there was a contravention of the order. There were many cases in which the owners were blameless and a small fine was only imposed. — Fined 2s. with 2s. costs.

Thanks for dropping by, Kat. I’m not sure about the dog. Googling ‘chinese terrier’ seemed overwhelmingly to point to the crested dog but it may have been another breed that was called a Chinese terrier at the time, and maybe not now. I need to check further.

Having searched again I find that there is a Chinese terrier, which looks a bit like a small white poodle. So thanks for your help, Kat. I couldn’t find a non-copyright picture of one but I have edited the blog to correct it.